Methods for growing nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from catalyst nanoparticles are known. While nanostructures such as CNTs have been proposed for widespread use in electronics, composite materials, and other applications, producing nanostructures on a scale large enough for commercialization has not been realized. This is due in part to the limited techniques available to deposit catalyst materials onto nanostructure growth substrates. Methods such as sputtering or electron-beam deposition combined with photolithography can be costly, requiring large capital investment in equipment and clean room facilities. In addition, such techniques have been primarily developed for the semiconductor industry, where the size scale is on the order of a few inches, and are not easily scaled up to higher volume production.